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Santa Barbara's premiere punks, the Lagwagon, started out in 1990 as a
classic, enthusiastic pop/hardcore crew performing their fast, loud, relentless
routine. Joey Cape's catchy melodies and entertaining lyrics
Similarities with Pennywise,
NOFX,
Screeching Weasel abound, but, on the other hand,
the Lagwagon sound was not even close to the "cuteness" of
Offspring or
Green Day, even if, ideologically, they belong to
the "light" side of hardcore (as opposed to Bad Religion's "tragic" side).
Duh (Fat Wreck, 1992) and Trashed (Fat Wreck, 1994),
were the formative albums.
Hoss (Fat Wreck, 1996) improved on the compositional front,
as showcased by
Violins, Move The Car and Razor Burn.
Double Plaidinum (Fat Wreck, 1997) tried a more commercial format, that
Let's Talk About Feelings (Fat Wreck, 1998) improved with
After You My Friend, Gun In Your Hand and
Everything Turns Geay.
Then Joey Cape left the band to join Bad Astronaut, that released
War Of the Worlds (Honest Don's, 2001) and
Houston We Have A Drinking Problem (2002).
Let's Talk About Leftovers (My Records, 2000) collects various
unreleased tracks.
Live In A Dive (2005) documents a 2003 tour.
The band reformed for Blaze (Chords, 2003),
an album that offers catchy, old-school punk-pop that. While accomplished
and well performed, it hardly breaks any new ground.
The solemn tone of Resolve (Far Wreck, 2005), dedicated to a friend who
committed suicide (Lagwagon's original drummer), fared much better.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Luca Battistini)
Protagonisti punk di Santa Barbara, i Lagwagon si proposero nel 1990 come un
classico ed appassionato gruppo pop/hardcore, suonando pezzi di routine veloci, rumorosi ed
incalzanti. Le orecchiabili melodie di Joey Cape e i suoi testi piacevoli
propongono affinita' in abbondanza con i Pennywise, i
NOFXe gli
Screeching Weasel, mentre il sound dei
Lagwagon non era affatto vicino alla "civetteria" di
Offspring o
Green Day, anche se da un punto di vista ideologico i Lagwagon appartengono
al lato "leggero" dell' hardcore (opposto al lato "tragico" dei Bad Religion).
Duh (Fat Wreck, 1992) e Trashed (Fat Wreck, 1994),
furono gli album di formazione.
Hoss (Fat Wreck, 1996) segno' un miglioramento dal punto di vista compositivo,
come dimostrano
Violins, Move The Car e Razor Burn.
Double Plaidinum (Fat Wreck, 1997) cerco' una formula piu' commerciale, migliorata
da Let's Talk About Feelings (Fat Wreck, 1998) con
After You My Friend, Gun In Your Hand e
Everything Turns Grey.
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